Purcell’s Cove Quarries

Marcos Zentilli, geologist and resident of Purcell’s Cove, led a Halifax Field Naturalists walk on Nov. 15, 2014, to explore quarries in the Purcell’s Cove area. Probably beginning in 1759, both granite and bluestone (slate) were exploited in Purcell’s Cove, since 1826 by British imperial troops, and were used to build harbour defences and many historic buildings in Halifax. An industrial steam railroad and tramway, one of the oldest in Canada, began operating at the King’s Quarry in 1834. Besides inspecting some remnants of the quarrying operation, we viewed typical outcrops of coarse granite (South Mountain Batholith – 380 million years old) and the ancient (Cambrian-Ordovician) marine sedimentary rocks it encroached and metamorphosed (Meguma – Bluestone Quarry). After the walk, we had a wrap-up at the Purcell’s Cove Social Club (Summary modifed from the HFN description for the walk). View some pics